'I like my soft lengthy body. I think it’s important for people to see that you don’t need huge arms and abs or bubble butts to be desired.'
It wasn't Jordann' huge arms or his abs that first drew me to his images, I don't think his abs were even visible. What first attracted me to Jordann was his inedible eyes, and the beautiful structure of his face. Last Autumn, photographer Chris Teel posted a portrait shot of Jordann on his Instagram page, followed by a short video (below) of Jordann standing by a window. There was something about his look, especially his eyes, that had me immediately contacting Chris about featuring their work together.
Originally from Scotland, Jordann moved to Canada about two and half years ago. When he arrived in Toronto, his goal was to take advantage of every opportunity that he was presented with. At the time, Instagram wasn't really a priority for Jordann, he had about 500 followers, but mostly friends who checked out his online picture diary.
Soon after landing in the city, Jordann pursued a career in hair styling, a profession that introduced him to an entirely new use for his Instagram page. Jordann began looking at the pages of other hair stylists, as well as photographer and queer artists in order to get a feel for what the community was like in his new city and home. This is where he found Chris Teel and his work.
'I immediately loved his work as I’m a massive fan of using primarily natural light. And of course his eye of capturing models is undeniable. He has this brilliant way of taking the masculine form and making it so soft and beautiful. But he can also capture the roughness just as easily. And that really captured my attention.'
One of Jordann's obsessions, is playing gender and fashion, and especially, what is expected to fit certainly people ad bodies. Jordann sensed that Chris had the same playful ideology. Jordann certainly noticed the many beautiful male forms Chris captured, but he also noted how Chris switched up the provocative underwear and nude shots, in a fun and unique way. Chris initially reached out to Jordann last year, but at the time, he was in juggling both work, and being a full time student. There schedules didn't connect until late last summer.
'I had worked with a few photographers by that point. All of which are super talented and have super different styles which was always what I wanted out of collaborating. I never went into this trying to be a “model”, I just wanted to get to know artists and be creative with people who had the skills that I didn’t! I'm not much of a photographer but I’m a super creative person and love to express that through clothes and hair and music and other means.'
Sooo.... When Jordann mentioned his passion for expression through clothes, I had to ask about those jeans. We've all heard and worn ripped jeans, but I think Jordann's certainly the most extreme, not to mention hot, example of the style. This particular pair can't be purchased however, they were created by Jordann specifically for his shoot with Chris.
'Chris had sent me a photo, jokingly the night before our shoot asking what I had planned on bringing in, so I sent him some pictures of the garments I planned on bringing and he sent me a picture of a boy in a club in “skeleton jeans” as I have since named them. So naturally, I immediately looked in my closet and found some old jeans I hadn’t worn in ages and cut out everything but the seams and boom! He was super surprised when I showed up the next day with exactly what he has mentioned.'
'I was approached by a photographer last summer who almost exclusively shoots nude photo work. I was hesitant but open to anything! It was at the peak of my “fitness journey” I’ve struggled with body dysmorphia since high school which it comes and goes with waves so sometimes having creative people capture your body from a different non biased perspective can be this really cool way of combatting it.
It doesn’t always work, but when I have days of being really thrown off by what I see in the mirror and in my mind it can be harder to argue with the pictures people like Chris capture of you! I was so impressed with the shots he’d gotten, it took me almost two months to properly sit down and choose my favourite 20 from the hundreds we had taken.'
'When Chris approached me I was not nervous at all and when we initially met he had an instant comforting feel about him. We started off fully clothed in my street clothes and then progressively I took them off item by item as our conversation and comfort level progressed. Then it just became super comfortable to be nude, and like I said, I’m not much of a model because I chat so much and lose focus. There are PLENTY of pictures from our shoot where my face is half laughing or I’m overly animated about something we are discussing. Which is hilarious for me to look at but I’m sure it was frustrating on some level for a photographer, but Chris never made me feel like I wasn’t doing a good job.'
'Shooting nudes has been a really lovely way of accepting my body. Accepting that it isn’t incredibly sculpted like a the usual “male physique” models. I like my soft lengthy body. I think it’s important for people to see that you don’t need huge arms and abs or bubble butts to be desired. Don’t get me wrong I love to stare at big biceps just as much as the next queen, but it’s nice to feel like when I’m being photographed I’m representative of a large portion of people. And putting myself out of my regular comfort zone has some form of benefit for people other than myself.'
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